Chip feed and steaming system and method for batch digester

ABSTRACT

A method for chemically digesting cellulosic fibrous material including: adding a liquor to cellulosic fibrous material to form a slurry in a chip feed system; transporting the slurry from the chip feed system to a batch digester vessel; determining when a chip level rises above an extraction screen in the batch digester vessel; after the chip level rises above the extraction screen, extracting liquor from the batch digester vessel while the transport continues of the slurry into the batch digester vessel; adding cooking liquor to slurry in the batch digester vessel; ceasing the transport of the slurry into the batch digester vessel and thereafter converting the cellulosic material in the vessel to a pulp, and discharging the pulp from the batch digester vessel before restarting the transporting of the slurry into the digester vessel.

CROSS RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of application Ser. No. 61/362,037 filed Jul. 7, 2010, which is incorporated in its entirety by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a method and system for feeding comminuted cellulosic fibrous material (referred to as “chips”) to a treatment vessel, such as a batch digester. In particular, the invention relates to creating a slurry, providing heat for the slurry and cooking liquor addition to the batch digester to which the chips being fed.

The terms “wood”, “chips” and “wood chips” refers generally to comminuted cellulosic fibrous material, such as chipped hardwoods and softwoods, and other lignocellulosic material.

A batch digesting system may include a chip feed system and a batch digester vessel. The chip feed system intermittently delivers chips, with liquor and optionally steam heat, to the batch digester vessel. The conventional process cycle of a batch digester vessel includes the sequential steps of: (i) filling the vessel with chips from the chip feed system, (ii) adding steam and liquor to the batch digester vessel (the liquor may be added simultaneously with the filling of the chips); (iii) capping the filled vessel and operating the vessel at conditions, e.g., above-atmospheric temperature and pressures, to digest, e.g., “cook”, the chips in the vessel and thereby convert the chips to pulp, and (iv) discharging, e.g., emptying, the pulp and liquor from the vessel. The “cycle time” is the period required for steps (i), (ii), (iii) and (iv) of the process. The cycle is repeated to successively process “batches” of chips in the digester vessel. Between capping the digester vessel and discharging the pulp from the vessel, time is needed to extract liquor through screens of the vessel and add steam heat to the chips in the vessel.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A system and method has been conceived to reduce the cycle time of batch digester vessel. The cycle time is reduced by extracting liquor from the vessel while chips continue to flow into the vessel and prior to the capping of the vessel. The vessel is filled such that a chip level is established to be above the top of an extraction screen in the vessel. Liquor is extracted through the extraction screen while the chips slurry continues to fill the batch digester vessel. Optionally, cooking liquor and steam may be added to the digester vessel while liquor is extracted from the vessel and while the chip slurry continues to fill the vessel. Cooking liquor and steam may also be added to the vessel after the desired volume of chips have been added to the vessel and the slurry stops filling the vessel. The described filling method may result in a shorter cycle time than the cycle time of conventional batch digester operations.

Reducing the cycle time allows for an increase in the volume of chips that may be processed by a batch digester vessel during a given period. Similarly, reducing the period during which chips are retained in a digester vessel during each cycle may allow for reduced cycle times and smaller digester vessels to achieve a desired flow rate of chips through a batch digesting system.

Liquor is added to the chips in the chip feed system to transport the chips (as a chip slurry) through the conduits, e.g., pipes, of the chip feed system. The proportion of liquor to chips in the chip slurry needed to transport the chips is substantially greater than the proportion of liquor to chips needed during cooking. The ratio of liquor to chips tends to be lower when cooking the chips in the vessel than is the ratio used to transport chips to the vessel. To reduce the liquor to chip ratio liquor is removed from the batch digester vessel. It is conventional to start the removal of liquor from a batch digester vessel after the vessel is capped. What is not conventional is to start the removal of liquor before the vessel is capped and while chips are being fed into the vessel.

The cycle time for a batch digester vessel may be reduced by removing, e.g., extracting, liquor as the vessel is filled with chips and before the vessel is capped to start of the digesting operation. The extraction of liquor during filling may begin after a minimum level of chips is established in the digester vessel. The minimum chip level may be at an elevation in the vessel at or above the top of the extraction screen.

Extracting liquid from the batch digester after establishment of minimum chip level and while chips continue to flow into the vessel allows for the liquid level to be drawn down in the vessel. As the liquid level is drawn down, space is formed in the batch digester vessel to add cooking liquor after the chips have been transported to the vessel.

The chemical composition of liquor used to transport chips, e.g., water, may be different than the chemical composition of liquor used to cook the chips in the vessel. If water or other non-cooking liquor is used to transport the chips to the vessel, cooking liquor is added to the vessel. In an embodiment of the present invention, cooking liquor may be added to the vessel before the vessel is capped.

Cooking liquor may be added to the chips in the chip feed system and used to transport the chips to the vessel. If cooking liquor is used as the transport liquor, the extraction of liquid from the batch digester vessel during the filling of the vessel may be regulated to ensure that sufficient cooking liquor remains in the vessel. Further, steam may be added to the chips in the chip feed system to start the heating the chips prior to the capping of the batch digester vessel. This early addition of steam may also shorten the cycle time.

A method has been conceived for chemically digesting cellulosic fibrous material, the method comprises: forming a slurry of cellulosic fibrous material; optionally adding heat energy (via steam for example) to the cellulosic fibrous material or the slurry; transporting the heated slurry through a high pressure transfer device and into a batch digester vessel; filling the batch digester vessel with the slurry to establish a minimum chips level; extracting transport liquor from the batch digester; optionally replacing the transport liquor with cooking liquor and when appropriate stopping extraction of the transport liquor from the batch digester vessel to provide sufficient cooking liquor in the batch digester vessel; ceasing the filling of the digester vessel and thereafter converting the cellulosic material in the vessel to a pulp, and discharging the pulp from the batch digester vessel before restarting the transporting of the slurry into the digester vessel.

A method for chemically digesting cellulosic fibrous material has been conceived comprising: forming a slurry of cellulosic fibrous material; transporting the slurry through a high pressure transfer device and into a batch digester vessel and forming a chip level in the vessel; determining when the chip level exists above an extraction screen in the batch digester vessel; after establishing the chip level, extracting liquor from the batch digester vessel while the feeding continues of the slurry to the batch digester vessel; adding cooking liquor to the batch digester vessel; ceasing the transport of the slurry into the batch digester vessel and thereafter converting the cellulosic material in the vessel to a pulp, and discharging the pulp from the batch digester vessel before restarting the transporting of the slurry into the digester vessel.

The steps of transporting the slurry of chips and liquor, filling the vessel with the slurry, converting the chips to pulp in the vessel and the discharging the pulp from the vessel are sequentially repeated. The high pressure transfer device may be one or more chip pumps which pressurizes the slurry in series or parallel as needed to meet the design of the system (meet static head requirements, flexibility for production turndown or increase, the need to feed multiple vessels, or other design specific requirements). The step of adding heat may include adding steam heat to the cellulosic material or slurry in a chip feed system coupled to the digester vessel and including the high pressure transfer device. The steam heat may be recovered heat from the extracted cooking liquor. The ratio of liquor to cellulosic material (L/W by weight) may be in a range of five to eight as the slurry flows through the high pressure transfer device, and in a range of three to five during the conversion of the cellulosic material to the pulp in the vessel.

A method has been conceived for chemically digesting cellulosic fibrous material comprising: adding a liquor to cellulosic fibrous material to form a slurry in a chip feed system; transporting the slurry from the chip feed system to a batch digester vessel; determining when a chip level rises above an extraction screen in the batch digester vessel; after the chip level rises above the extraction screen, extracting liquor from the batch digester vessel while the transport continues of the slurry into the batch digester vessel; ceasing the transport of the slurry into the batch digester vessel and thereafter converting the cellulosic material in the vessel to a pulp, and discharging the pulp from the batch digester vessel before restarting the transporting of the slurry into the digester vessel.

The method may include adding heat energy to the cellulosic fibrous material or the slurry before the slurry is transported into the batch digester vessel. A cooking liquor may be added to the slurry before the slurry enters the batch digester vessel.

Liquor may be extracted from the batch digester vessel during the transport of the slurry into the vessel. The extracted liquor may be used to heat the liquor added to the chip feed system. Steam heat may be added to the cellulosic material or slurry in the chip feed system. The steam heat is added at a lower end of a chip tube coupled to an inlet of a high pressure transfer device.

A liquor to cellulosic material ratio on a weight basis may be in a range of five to eight as the slurry flows through a high pressure transfer device of the chip feed system, and in a range of three to five during the conversion of the cellulosic material to the pulp in the batch digester vessel.

A method has been conceived for batch digesting method for pulping cellulosic fibrous material, the method comprising: adding a liquor to cellulosic fibrous material to form a slurry in a chip feed system; transporting the slurry from the chip feed system to an upper inlet to a batch digester vessel; as the slurry is being transported into the batch digester vessel and after a liquid or chip level in the vessel rises above an extraction screen in the vessel, extracting liquor from the batch digester vessel; ceasing the transport of the slurry into the batch digester vessel; while the transport of the slurry is ceased, converting the cellulosic material in the vessel to a pulp, and discharging the pulp from the batch digester vessel. The steps of transporting, ceasing and converting are performed sequentially and separately, and may be performed repeatedly.

Heat energy may be added to the cellulosic fibrous material or slurry before the slurry is transported to the upper inlet of the batch digester vessel. In addition, a cooking liquor may be added to the material in an impregnation vessel of the chip feed system and before the slurry enters the batch digester vessel. Further, heat may be transferred from liquor extracted from the batch digester vessel to the liquor added in the chip feed system. In addition, cooking liquor may be added to the cellulosic fibrous material in the chip feed system and the batch digester vessel.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a chip feed and steaming system coupled to a batch digester vessel for chemically processing cellulosic fibrous material, wherein the figures show a cycle of operation of the batch digester vessel.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a chip feed system 10 and a batch digester vessel 12 for chemically processing cellulosic fibrous material. The batch digester vessel 12 operates in a repeating sequence of filling, cooking and discharge.

During the filling step, chips from the chip feed system flow into a top inlet 46 of the vessel. Cooking liquor 14 or transport liquor 60 flows with the chips into the vessel. Cooking liquor may also be added separately to the vessel during the filling step. In addition, steam 20 may be added via conduit 40 to the vessel during the filling step. The flow of chips into the vessel ceases at the end of the filling step.

The cooking step follows the filling step. After the top inlet is capped, e.g., sealed, the cooking step involves impregnating the chips in the vessel with the cooking liquor, maintaining the chips under conditions, e.g., 5 to 10 kilogram/centimeter squared (kg/cm²) and at elevated temperatures of 140 to 200 degrees Celsius (° C.), favorable to cooking of cellulosic fibrous material. During the cooking step, the cooking chemicals, e.g., alkaline solutions of sodium sulfate (kraft process) or sodium hydroxide, delignify the chips and allow for separation of the fibers in the chips to produce pulp. After the cooking step, the pulp 54 is discharged from the vessel during the discharge step.

Chips 22 may be supplied to the chip feed system. For example, the wood yards of conventional pulp mills store wood chips 22 in open chip piles or in chip storage silos. Chips 22 are conveyed by conventional means, e.g., a conveyor or front-end loader (not shown), to a chip bin 24 of the chip feed system.

The chip bin 24 may be a DIAMONDBACK® chip bin marketed by the Andritz Group and as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,000,083, or other conventional chip storage vessel. The chip bin may have near an outlet a one-dimensional convergence and side relief and a rotary or vibratory discharge mechanism. The chip bin 24 may have an upper inlet connected to an airlock 26 which monitors and controls the flow of chips into the bin. The conveyor for the chips 22 feed the chips to the inlet of the airlock. If the chip bin is pressurized, a vent 28 at the top of chip bin regulates the pressure in the bin, such as in a range of 5 to 10 kg/cm².

The chip bin 24 may be operated at atmospheric or super-atmospheric pressure, for example at 0.1 to 5 bar. If the chip bin is operated at super-atmospheric pressure, a pressure isolation device 30, e.g., a rotary valve low pressure feeder, may be located at the chip inlet (possibly instead of the air lock) of the chip bin to prevent the release of pressure from the bin. The low pressure feeder may be a star-type isolation device or a screw-type feeder having a sealing capacity. The pressure isolation device isolates the pressurized chip bin from the unpressurized chip supply 22 that is at atmospheric pressure.

The chip bin 24 discharges to a metering device for example a Chip Meter sold by Andritz Group or other screw-type metering device. The metering device 32 may discharge chips to a pressure isolation device 36 and thereafter to an optional chip impregnation vessel 34.

White cooking liquor 14 may be added to one or more of the chips in the chip bin 24, pressure isolation device 36, impregnation vessel 34 and batch digester vessel via central liquor pipe 64. The cooking liquor may be, by way of examples, kraft white, black or green liquor. White cooking liquor 14 may be a strongly alkaline solution including sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfide used for Kraft pulping. As an alternative to or in addition to adding cooking liquor to the chip bin, cooking liquor may be added to a chip impregnation vessel that temporarily holds the chips at atmospheric pressure or at an elevated pressure. The addition of white liquor to the chip feed system via conduits 52 starts the process of impregnation of the chips with the cooking liquor before the chips enter the batch digester vessel 12.

To feed the chips to the vessel, liquor, such as transport liquor 60, e.g., water, and white cooking liquor 14, is injected in the chip feed system to establish a slurry. Transport liquor 60 may be water, for example. The ratio of liquor to chips, e.g., cellulosic material, on a weight basis may be in a range of five to eight for transporting the chips to the vessel. The ratio of the liquor to chips may be in a range of three to five during the cooking process in which the cellulosic material is converted to the pulp. In view of the higher ratio of liquor to chips for transport as compared to cooking, a substantial amount of liquor is removed from the chips after they have entered the vessel.

A portion of the liquor added in the chip feed system may be liquor extracted from the batch digester vessel, such as through screens 16 or a top separator 18 in the vessel. Conduit 62 transports extracted liquor from the vessel 12 to the chip feed system, such as to the discharge of the chip bin 24.

Extraction of liquor from the batch digester vessel occurs during the chip filling step and starts after the chip level 61 in the vessel 10 has risen above the top of the extraction screens 16. Liquor is extracted while chips continue to be fed into the vessel. The extraction of the liquor as the batch digester vessel is filled with a desired mass of chip allows the liquid level in the vessel to be drawn down prior to the addition of cooking liquor. Optionally, while liquor is extracted from the screens 16 into conduit 62, white cooking liquor 14 may added to the vessel. Further, liquor may be extracted and additional cooking liquor added during the cooking step.

Steam 20 may be injected via conduit 40 to the chips in the feed system 10 to provide heat energy to the chips and increase the temperature of the chips to or near a cooking temperature, e.g., between 140° C. to 180° C., before the chips enter the batch digester vessel. By adding liquor and optionally steam to the chips in the chip feed system, the process time may be reduced in the batch digester vessel as compared to the conventional approach of adding steam after the chips enter the batch digester vessel and extracting liquor only after the vessel has been capped for the cooking step. Steam 20 may also be added directly to the batch digester vessel via conduit 41

The period during which the chips are impregnated in the impregnation vessel 34 depend on the level of chip impregnation desired to be reached before the chips are fed to the batch digester vessel. The period of chip impregnation may be very short, e.g., 0.1 second (as the chips enter the digester vessel) to long, such as a two (2) hour retention period in the impregnation vessel 34. If the period for chip impregnation is shorter than the period in the cycle for cooking in the digester vessel, the cooking liquor may be added to the impregnation vessel after the chips fed to the impregnation vessel and at a time selected to achieve the desired impregnation period before the chips are fed to the digester vessel. The impregnation vessel may be large if needed to retain the chips in the vessel for a period longer than the period in the cycle for cooking in the digester vessel. The addition of cooking liquor in the chip feed system may also be accomplished without an impregnation vessel such as by adding the liquor to the chip bin 24 via conduit 40, to the chips in prior to the pumps 44 coupled to conduit 42 or to another component of the chip feed system such as the pressure isolation device 36.

Steam, such as fresh steam 20 or flashed steam 38 produced from the evaporation of waste liquor, may be added to chip bin 24, to the chip impregnation vessel 34 or to other sections of the chip feed system 10. Steam conduits 40 direct the steam from the steam supply 20 of fresh steam or flashed steam 38 from a flash tank 39 to one or more components, e.g., chip bin 24 and impregnation vessel 34, of the chip feed system 10.

The steam 20 added in the chip feed system increases the temperature of the chips before entering the digester vessel and thereby reduces the period needed to heat the chips in the batch digester vessel. The steam also facilitates removal of air from the chips. By way of example, the steam may be added to the chip feed system moments before the chips enter the digester vessel or as much as 2 hours before the chips enter the digester vessel.

A slurry of chips and liquor is fed through conduits 42 from the chip bin 24, the chip impregnation vessel 34 (if present), the pressure isolation device 30 or 36 to a high pressure transfer device 44, such as one or more chip pumps, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,753,075, the entirety of which is incorporated by reference. These pumps, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,753,075 may be arranged in series or parallel as needed to meet specific design criteria, such as the necessary head for the pumps, volume of material to pump, and flexibility in operations of the one or multiple batch digesters. Another example of a high pressure transfer device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,236,285, the entirety of which is incorporated by reference. The pressure isolation device may include a chip tube that receives at an upper inlet the chips and a lower outlet that feeds the chips to a pump. The chip slurry is pressurized in the high pressure transfer device 44 to a pressure substantially equal to the pressure in the digester vessel 12.

From the high pressure transfer device 44, the chips and liquor slurry flows to a top inlet 46 of the digester vessel. The chips and liquor flow into the digester vessel through the top inlet and fill the digester vessel. The chips and liquor may be added simultaneously to the digester in a chip slurry.

The quantity of liquor added the chip feed system 10 to transport the chips from the chip bin 24 to the digester vessel 12 may be in a range of 5 to 8 times the quantity of chips by weight (that is a liquor to wood ratio of 5:1 to 8:1, L/W of 5:1 to 8:1 or L/W of 5 to 8 by weight). This range of L/W of 5 to 8 of liquor to chips is particularly suitable where the high pressure transport device is one or more chip pumps.

The quantity of liquor needed for treating, e.g., cooking, the chips in the batch digester vessel is typically 3 to 5 times liquor to chips (a L/W ratio of 3 to 5). The quantity of liquor needed for chip treatment in the digester vessel may be less than the quantity of liquor needed to transport the chips through the chip feed system, particularly if the chip pumps form the high pressure transfer device.

Liquor can be extracted from the digester vessel through screens 16 that may extend partially or fully around the circumference of the vessel and be at a mid-elevation of the vessel. The positioning and arrangement of the screens is a matter of design choice for the designer of the digester vessel. Alternative types of screening devices for extracting liquor from the digester vessel include a top separator 18 that may be included in the vessel at the top inlet 46. These screening devices extract liquor from the chip slurry in the digester vessel while blocking chip fibers from leaving the vessel. Liquor may be extracted from the screens 16 separately from the top separator 18. Liquor may be extracted from screen 16 after the liquor level in the vessel 10 rises above the screen 16, even though the top separator is not immersed in liquor.

Some of the liquor may be extracted via screen as the chip slurry fills the digester vessel and before the start of the formal batch cooking process. As the chip slurry flows through the top inlet 46 and accumulates in the digester vessel, the slurry will fill the vessel and form a liquor liquid level and a chip pile in the vessel. When the chip pile level 61 exceeds the elevation of the screens 16, a portion of the liquor may be extracted through the screens.

The extracted liquor may be used to heat, via a heat exchanger 56, the white liquor 14 that supplies liquor to conduits 52 connected to one or more of the chip bin 24, impregnation vessel 34 and other components in the chip feed system 10. If a top separator 18 is present, a portion of the liquor may be extracted as the chip slurry flows through the inlet 46 and into the vessel. The amount of liquor removed as the chip slurry fills the vessel may be such that the amount of liquor remaining in the vessel is sufficient for cooking the chips, e.g., in a range of L/W of 3 to 5 liquor to chips weight ratio.

The extraction of liquor is started before the chip slurry has fully filled the batch digester vessel 12. The extracted liquor may be replaced by cooking liquor. In particular, the transport liquor may be extracted and drawn down to allow replacement by cooking liquor once the extraction has stopped. By extracting liquor before the formal cooking process is started in the batch digester vessel, the time taken in reducing the liquor amount to the that needed for cooking does not delay (or at least minimizes any delay) the start of the formally cooking process. Additional time is saved in the batch digesting cycle by filling the digester vessel with chips and liquor simultaneously, rather than by the conventional sequential processes of separately adding chips and liquor to the batch digester. Cycle time may also be saved by preheating the chips in the chip feed system rather than waiting to heat the chips after they fill the vessel.

After the batch digester vessel 12 has received an appropriate or specified volume or amount of chips, the vessel is capped such that the flow of chips and liquor into the vessel ceases. After the vessel has been capped, the vessel digests, e.g., cooks, the chips using the cooking liquor, heat and pressure to dissolve or remove lignin from the chips and convert the chips to pulp. After completion of the digesting process, the pulp 54 is discharged from the vessel for further processing.

While the invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the disclosed embodiment, but on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. 

1. A method for chemically digesting cellulosic fibrous material comprising: adding a liquor to cellulosic fibrous material to form a slurry in a chip feed system; transporting the slurry from the chip feed system to a batch digester vessel; determining when a chip level rises above an extraction screen in the batch digester vessel; after the chip level rises above the extraction screen, extracting liquor from the batch digester vessel while the transport continues of the slurry into the batch digester vessel; ceasing the transport of the slurry into the batch digester vessel and thereafter converting the cellulosic material in the vessel to a pulp, and discharging the pulp from the batch digester vessel before restarting the transporting of the slurry into the digester vessel.
 2. The method as in claim 1 wherein heat energy is added to the cellulosic fibrous material or the slurry before the slurry is transported into the batch digester vessel.
 3. The method as in claim 1 further comprising adding a cooking liquor to the slurry before the slurry enters the batch digester vessel.
 4. The method as in claim 1 further comprising extracting liquor from the batch digester vessel during the transport of the slurry into the vessel.
 5. The method as in claim 1 wherein the transportation of the slurry, the conversion to the pulp in the vessel and the discharging from the vessel are performed sequentially and repeatedly.
 6. The method as in claim 1 further comprising pressurizing the slurry by passing the slurry through a high pressure transfer device.
 7. The method as in claim 1 wherein the high pressure transfer device is at least one chip pump which pressurizes the slurry.
 8. The method as in claim 1 further comprising adding steam heat to the cellulosic material or slurry in a chip feed system.
 9. The method as in claim 8 where the steam heat is added at a lower end of a chip tube coupled to an inlet of a high pressure transfer device.
 10. The method as in claim 9 further comprising transferring heat from liquor extracted from the batch digester vessel to the liquor added in the chip feed system.
 11. The method of claim 1 further comprising adding a cooking liquor to the cellulosic fibrous material in the batch digester vessel and the chip feed system.
 12. The method as in claim 1 wherein a liquor to cellulosic material ratio on a weight basis is in a range of five to eight as the slurry flows through a high pressure transfer device of the chip feed system, and in a range of three to five during the conversion of the cellulosic material to the pulp in the batch digester vessel.
 13. A method batch digesting method for pulping cellulosic fibrous material, the method comprising: adding a liquor to cellulosic fibrous material to form a slurry in a chip feed system; transporting the slurry from the chip feed system to an upper inlet to a batch digester vessel; as the slurry is being transported into the batch digester vessel and after a liquid or chip level in the vessel rises above an extraction screen in the vessel, extracting liquor from the batch digester vessel; ceasing the transport of the slurry into the batch digester vessel; while the transport of the slurry is ceased, converting the cellulosic material in the vessel to a pulp, and discharging the pulp from the batch digester vessel.
 14. The method of claim 13 wherein each of the steps of transporting, ceasing and converting are performed sequentially and separately.
 15. The method of claim 14 wherein the steps of transporting, ceasing and converting are repeated.
 16. The method as in claim 13 wherein heat energy is added to the cellulosic fibrous material or slurry before the slurry is transported to the upper inlet of the batch digester vessel.
 17. The method as in claim 13 further comprising adding a cooking liquor to an impregnation vessel of the chip feed system and before the slurry enters the batch digester vessel.
 18. The method as in claim 13 further comprising transferring heat from liquor extracted from the batch digester vessel to the liquor added in the chip feed system.
 19. The method of claim 13 further comprising adding a cooking liquor to the cellulosic fibrous material in the chip feed system and the batch digester vessel.
 20. The method as in claim 13 wherein a liquor to cellulosic material ratio on a weight basis is in a range of five to eight as the slurry flows through a high pressure transfer device of the chip feed system, and in a range of three to five during the conversion of the cellulosic material to the pulp in the batch digester vessel. 